Susie-Belle lived in a dark, dirty barn for many years. She was hungry and cold a lot of the time. When she became too ill to have any more puppies she was kicked out of the barn. Luckily for Susie-Belle she was found by people who arrived just in time to save her life. Without the rescue saving her, she would have died.
Before Susie-Belle could be adopted by her new family, she needed a lot of veterinary treatment. The years of not being looked after caused her many problems. She was very thin as she had never been given enough food to eat. Old injuries had not healed well. Her legs were stiff and instead of thick fur on her back she had bald patches and scars. She had problems with her eyes which needed an operation to save her eyesight.
The rescue which saved her gave her all the treatment she needed to get well again. She spent a long time with them getting better. She had to learn to trust that people were helping her. At first she was very scared. Nobody had been kind to Susie-Belle before. She did not know what it was like to be treated well. When a person tried to stroke her, she thought they were going to hit her. She tried to hide away from people.
After many months of people caring for her, Susie-Belle was well enough to go and live with her new family. A whole new life opened up to her. One she could never have dreamed would be hers when she was in the barn.
She ate good food every day. She had big soft beds to sleep on. She went for walks every day. She loved going to the beach. She ran in the snow for the first time and loved it. She made many new friends. Susie-Belle was finally, a very happy dog.
